Where are the people who closed Prescott School and then leased it to the private Missoula International School?

Where are the people who were responsible for closing our most treasured Prescott School?
Remember - the people, the Missoula County Public Schools Trustees, are by name:

Board Chairwoman - Rosemary Harrison
Trustee Jenda Hemphill(aka Jenda Cummings) later Board Chairwoman
Trustee Toni Rehbein (aka Toni Smartt) and later Board Chairwoman
Trustee Scott Bixler
Trustee Joe Toth

The above Trustees voted in the July, 2004 MCPS Board Meeting. This meeting was the SECOND vote on the Prescott School closure issue.

The Missoula County Public Schools Trustees who voted on March 24, the first vote, to close the school were)(only a 48 day process!)

Rosemary Harrison (see above)
Jenda Hemphill (see above)
Naomi Kimbell (aka Naomi DeMarinis)
and
David Merrill

Trustees who did not vote for the closure were: Suzette Dussault, Colleen Rogers, and Carol Bellin.

As one can see only four MCPS Trustees can radically transform  a neighborhood, a school district, and the city as a whole. It is quite apparent that there needs to be a tweaking of the process of school closures and also for school sales.

To get back to the topic on where the Trustees who voted for the closure of Prescott School are today -

Without too much research I believe that most of the people listed are still in Missoula. Rosemary Harrison is now a realtor, Scott Bixler was and still is I believe, working for the Forest Service, Joe Toth was and still is, I believe, working as a fireman. Jenda Hemphill, I have heard, unfortunately, has a disease, which I won't mention here. Naomi Kimbell, I believe is writing like her father did before her. And, I will have to see if I can find out where David Merrill works. Later: In 2006, PSM received, perhaps from Merrill himself a sticker with the following wording, "Global Warming Solution.org and in smaller letters, "be a part of it". Other than this connection I do not know David Merrill's work history.

Montana State Tax document shows that former MCPS Trustee (and Board Chair) Toni Rehbein was the president of Missoula International School  - Also shows Martha Newell as vice president

The point is that all of these people are now leading their own lives away from their past school board duties and none are taking responsibility for the troubles which they have caused. None are being held accountable for our crowded schools, for the busing of half of our school children due to the school closures for which they voted, for all the increased infrastructure building, etc. Wouldn't it have been just as easy to be cautious and NOT to have closed the schools, not to have sold a school, and not to have leased a school to a private school? Yes, but politics got in the way.

And politics is still in the way - One of the above Trustees was voted out of office, and soon after helped to start the Missoula Education Foundation. This foundation works closely with the school district. All the better to be close to MCPS business, including being part of the bond committee) and to manipulate outcomes of decision making. This Trustee also has children and grandchildren - so is his/her hands in school business affecting her grandchildren. Do they attend a school with the International Baccalaureate program is instituted by MCPS for example? PSM saw Harrison at the opening of the IB program at Lewis an Clark School. She was hugging a young man who could have been her son. Again, was her grandchild a student at Lewis and Clark School? Was the IB program pushed by Harrison with the idea that her grandchild could attend this school?

All things to consider so that lessons can be learned for future decisions.

edited on April 25, 2026 additions in blue 

Linking the School Facility Study recommendations with Voting Record of Former MCPS Trustee Rosemary Harrison (who is NOW serving on this Committee!!)

Missoula County Public Schools, in my opinion, is making some drastic mistakes in its facilities planning.

And no wonder. The people involved in the planning process are none other than the people who got us into this mess in the first place.

One person, and I believe one of the major culprits in this latest facility plan fiasco, is Rosemary Harrison. Harrison voted to close several schools: Dickinson, Roosevelt, Prescott, Mt. Jumbo, and Rattlesnake Middle School.  Harrison went on to vote to sell Roosevelt School in 2005. Harrison also went on to vote for the lease of Prescott School to the competing private school Missoula International School in 2004 only weeks after the closure.

Other culprits in this gigantically expensive decades-long facility merry-go-round are:

 Roosevelt Closure - (circa 1998) - Superintendent Vagner, MCPS administrators, in addition to Harrison are Trustees Hemphill (Cummings), and others for which I am unsure at this time.

Roosevelt School Sale - (2005) – In addition to Harrison other Trustees voting for this sale were Jenda Hemphill, Toni Rehbein, Scott Bixler, and Joe Toth.

First North East School Closure Vote - (2004) - Superintendent Clark, MCPS administrators, and in addition to Harrison were Trustees Jenda Hemphill, Naomi Kimbell, and David Merrill.

Second North East School Closure Vote - (2004) – (This second vote was due to a repeat of the first school closure decision process due to violations in open meeting laws) - Superintendent Jim Clark, MCPS administrators, and in addition to Harrison were Trustees Jenda Hemphill, Toni Rehbein (formerly Toni Smartt), Scott Bixler, and Joe Toth.

Lease of Prescott School to Missoula International School – 2004 – Superintendent Clark, MCPS administrators, and in addition to Harrison were Trustees Jenda Hemphill, Naomi Kimbell, Scott Bixler, and Joe Toth.

Two lease extension of Prescott School to Missoula International School were approved by disloyal and malfeasance Trustees: one in 2009 and the other in 2011 under the leadership of Superintendent Alex Apostle (was this why he was hired?)

Did Missoulians know that in this facility planning study has NOT given the closed schools the value of an open school – that is all closed schools were considered INACTIVE and all open schools are considered ACTIVE!!

Look at the connection that is being made in this post and you will see how us Missoulians are being taken for a ride – a very expensive ride. Many of the schools which were closed, sold, and/or leased to the competition by Rosemary Harrison are the schools which are now considered INACTIVE and most likely the reason why Harrison was selected to be in this planning study. HARRISON (AND OTHER DISLOYAL PEOPLE) WANT TO COMPLETE WHAT SHE STARTED – the non-use or disposal of the schools for which she closed: Dickinson, Roosevelt (check - she accomplished the disposal of this property), Prescott, Mt. Jumbo, and Rattlesnake Middle School (check -she accomplished the disappearance of this school).

If Rosemary Harrison, other MCPS Facility Study people, and the MCPS officials  complete the plan that is outlined in this article, we Missoulians (students, families, taxpayers, neighborhoods) ARE THE LOSERS – BIG TIME!!

 This latest study is a fraud (just like others before it) because of who is involved and the complete and utter lack of due diligence in school size, school configuration, i.e. K-8 vs. middle schools, costs of busing, costs of remodeling vs. building a new school, etc.).

Please Missoulians, stick up for Prescott School and other INACTIVE schools, such as Whittier, Dickinson, Mt. Jumbo, and Jefferson – THESE SCHOOLS NEED A VOICE! It is the NEIGHBORHOOD SMALL SCHOOL THAT IS KING IN PROVIDING A GOOD EDUCATION FOR OUR STUDENTS. Contact MCPS school officials at: Missoula County Public Schools, 214 S. Sixth West, Missoula, MT 59801.

I think that all of the above is correct – my apologies if not.

'King Arthur' becomes 'Arturo' in Missoula International School performances- Missoulian article by Kim Briggeman published in the December 14th edition

Click on the link below to read a Missoulian article on a performance by Missoula International Schoool children.

King Arthur' becomes 'Arturo' in Missoula International School performances

Prescott School MIssoula comments -

In 2004 MCPS closed three schools within a 48 day time span. This shortsighted decision has had devastating consequences for not only the north side of our city but throughout the school system of Missoula. The closure Trustees were Trustees Rosemary Harrison, Jenda Hemphill, Naomi Kimbell, and David Merrill. 

A repeat of the closure decision was visited in July of 2004 due to an open meeting lawsuit against the district filed by Allan Oines and Molly Moody. FYI – The only person allowed to speak before the decision was approved was Prescott Principal Cindy Christensen who advocated for closure of her own school!! Thanks Cindy!

The second 2004 closure Trustees were Rosemary Harrison, Jenda Hemphill, Naomi Kimbell, Toni Rehbein, Scott Bixler, and Joe Toth (Rehbein, Bixler, and Toth had been elected in May of 2004).

After closing the three schools, Prescott School was leased in another rushed decision (again in 48 days) for a 5 year term to the private school Missoula International School. In 2009, a lease extension for 3 years was approved and in 2011, another lease extension was approved for 5 years for a total of 13 years. Trustees voting for the lease extension in 2009 were Scott Bixler, Joe Toth, Jenda Hemphill, Nancy Pickhardt, Joseph Knapp, and (not sure on this).  Trustees voting for the lease extension in 2011 were Scott Bixler, Shelly Wills, Michael Smith, and Joseph Knapp.

Citizens, including a math professor, have come forward in meetings and have stated that this lease is costing the district hundreds of thousands of dollars due to the increase in MIS enrollment throughout the years. The professor warned Trustees in 2004 that the lease could hit MCPS hard financially.  Prior to the 2011 lease extension approval the math professor sent an EMAIL TO ALL TRUSTEES AND THE SUPERINTENDENT STATING THAT THE PRESCOTT SCHOOL LEASE TO MISSOULA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL WAS AT THAT TIME COSTING THE DISTRICT $500,000 A YEAR!  Strangely but predictably this information was brushed aside and ignored by district officials

In 2004, MIS enrollment was 33 and in 2011 enrollment had increased to 121 (According to county numbers).. UPDATE – Since the approval of the lease extension in 2011 MIS enrollment has increased by 40 students thus an additional loss of approximately $200,000 (40 x $5,000) which brings the loss to the district in the $700,000 range!  The sweetheart lease rates do NOT make up for this loss. Should not Knapp, Bixler, Wills, and Smith be responsible for this amount?! And should not the other closure/lease/lease extension Trustees also bear the brunt of this loss?!

 If the superintendent and the Board of Trustees do not understand the basic concept that leasing a public school to the competition then in my opinion and I’m quite sure in others as well, MCPS has no business embarking on yet another facilities study.

Unless the district and the steering committee state up front that its first order of business is to terminate the Prescott School/MIS lease, MCPS has NO credibility and all involved should pack up and go home. UPDATE – A citizen at the latest facility meeting requested the district produce a report on this lease. 

By the way, two citizens and the MIS “moochers” along with other “moochers” had to wait 3 and ½ hours to wait to speak during public comment. MCPS really DOES NOT VALUE PUBLIC COMMENT!

Another FYI – Rosemary Harrison and Drake Lemm are on the facility committee! Harrison harmed not only Prescott School, but voted to close AND SELL Roosevelt and I believe voted to close Dickinson – HARRISON IS THE QUEEN OF MISSOULA SCHOOL CLOSURES and Lemm always endorsed the Prescott/MIS lease.

The Prescott School/Missoula International School lease can be considered the epicenter ofschool corruption in Missoula.

Note: Some of the information in this post has already been included in other Prescott School Missoula's blog posts. This post has some summary points embedded within.

 

 

 

 

 

Prescott School Missoula attended a MCPS facility meeting on December 6, 2013

Prescott School Missoula attended a MCPS facility meeting yesterday. It was NOT fun.

psm had not attended the MCPS facility study meetings in October or November. The reasoning for this is that psm attended EVERY Ad Hoc Property meeting in 2006-2007 during Superintendent Clark's tenure. When psm expressed opinions favorable to Prescott and other neighborhood schools at these meetings it was like psm was invisible and  did not hear a word. Why would psm think this newest property fiasco team, oops, facility meeting study, would act any differently?

It is NOT fun and is quite excruciating to attend any MCPS property and or facility meeting if you are a Prescott School advocate.

Just as in the Ad Hoc Property meetings people on this committee or the smaller committees have been hostile to Prescott in the past.

One example of a person hostile to Prescott School who attended yesterday's meeting has been featured on this blog as Prescott School's worst enemy - Rosemary Harrison.  Harrison as a long-time MCPS Trustee voted two or three times to close Prescott School (the closure decisions were reversed with the subsequent election of pro-Prescott Trustees) prior to voting for Prescott's closure in 2004 after a short 48 day deliberation period devastating our northeast Missoula area families as not only Prescott School was closed but two other schools were closed as well.

Subsequently, Harrison, in true disloyal fashion, voted to lease Prescott School to a competing private school.

Due to Harrison's disloyal streak - she along with Bixler, Toth, Rehbein, and Hemphill voted to sell another invaluable public school, Roosevelt School on Stephens Avenue, to the Catholic schools to house St. Josephs School in 2005. Thankfully, Harrison was voted out of office in May of 2005.

Another person who psm saw unfortunately, at this meeting yesterday, was Drake Lemm. Lemm was voted off the Board this May.

Drake Lemm ALWAYS expressed his desire to go forward with the Prescott School/MIS lease when the issue came before the Board. Lemm NEVER took seriously the public's concern regarding the huge financial loss to the district as a result of this lease. 

These two despised former MCPS Trustees just can't go back to their private lives and leave us Missoulians alone. No, they have to finagle their way onto a facility committee. It must be that each of these disloyal people have a big power trip and just can't let go. Therefore, the people who treasure our neighborhood public schools are forced to continually deal with two evil people.

Remember, Drake Lemm, as reported in the Missoula Independent, did work for Superintendent Clark in his capacity as a building contractor. The cost of the project was in the $4,000 range. The Missoula County Attorney's office decided that this amount was not a cause for concern. We, the people were the losers from this decision. One can Google Drake Lemm and school shenanigans to read the two Independent articles.

In a September 2005 Finance and Operations Meeting Lemm stated that a school in the Y area (near the airport) would be a good place to build a school. This idea did not make the minutes but it did make a citizen's recorder. A few years later the public learned that Lemm was before the County Commissioners office requesting to transfer some of his property near the Y to his wife. One commissioner questioned this particular request, however, it was granted.

Drake Lemm also built a subdivision in the Linda Vista area. The district has for years suggested a school to be built in this area.  There needs to be transparency on citizen's land holdings before being selected to serve on a MCPS facility study.

One more thing - and of particular interest is that the moochers from Missoula International School were there, Julie Lennox, headmaster of MIS and another fellow, the assistant headmaster. During public comment Lennox stated that MIS has taken good care of the property - NOT TRUE - see the YouTube video on this blog or use Google to view a slide show revealing the blatant negligence in the care of the grounds at Prescott. A citizen who is a botanist observed that, "there is not a blade of grass left in the lawn". What this person meant is that the grounds have little grass left and has been taken over by weeds.

Lennox also stated at this meeting that Prescott needed maintenance. The maintenance of Prescott School, according to the lease, is the responsibility of MIS. Lennox just admitted that MIS was not keeping up on it's duty in the maintenance of Prescott School (NOTE: Remember that the MCPS employee who was working illegally painting the gym in Prescott School - see another YouTube video on this blog - said that he had never seen a ceiling in such bad shape as the Prescott School gym - shame on  you MCPS!)

There was another citizen at the meeting who made some great comments during the public comment period regarding the district NOT following open meeting laws and public participation laws in the facility meetings. One example this citizen gave was that the smaller committees DID NOT TAKE PUBLIC COMMENT - PUBLIC COMMENT WAS NOT LISTED ON THE AGENDA!! Did facility leaders really think that taking public comment on a different day than a meeting is appropriate?!  This citizen encouraged the district to take a look at the financial implications of leasing a public school to a private school, i.e. the Prescott/MIS lease.

Prescott School Missoula is recommending that Trustees DO NOT TAKE THIS COMMITTEE'S RECOMMENDATIONS  DUE TO ETHICAL PROBLEMS IN THIS STUDY'S PROCESS.

Oh - and by the way the two citizens who were looking out for the public's interest and the MIS moochers waited THREE AND A HALF HOURS TO SPEAK!! The Garden City Harvest moochers came to the meeting, left, and then came back in time for Josh Slotnik to give his rousing speech about how he and his fellow gardeners are so important for the Duncan Dr. property. To my knowledge - NOT ONE PERSON ON THIS COMMITTEE HAS VOICED A CONCERN THAT MCPS WILL MOST LIKELY NEED THIS LAND IN THE FUTURE.

Hellgate senior: Class of 2014 'guinea pigs' for frustrating curriculum - Missoulian article published in the November 13th, 2013 edition

Click the link below to read a Missoulian article written by Betsy Cohen in the November 13, 2013 edition reporting on the MCPS November School Board Meeting.

A Hellgate student said that he spoke on behalf of many of the Class of 2014 in that they considered themselves "guinea pigs" for the administration. He also complained about the International Baccalaureate Program now housed at Hellgate.

A citizen also spoke out against the Prescott School/MIS lease.


Hellgate senior: Class of 2014 'guinea pigs' for frustrating curriculum

Booming student population pushes need for MCPS long-range facilities plan - Missoulian article in November 2, 2013 edition written by Betsy Cohen

Click on the link below to read an article by Missoulian reporter Betsy Cohen in the November 3rd edition reporting on the overcrowding of Missoula County Public Schools such as Rattlesnake School, just up the road from Prescott School.

The school district has been disloyal and negligent in actions taken which affect our Rattlesnake Valley students.

They have closed and sold Lincoln School (1986?) so that it is not available for handling the overflow from Rattlesnake School.

MCPS Trustees then closed Prescott School (2004) and subsequently leased it (also 2004) to a private school Missoula International School.

Citizens, including a math professor at the University of Montana, have figured that the losses to the district have been in the hundreds of thousands and now after 9 years of the Prescott School/MIS lease the loses must be in the millions of dollars.

This is all due to the state funding formula which attaches approximately $5,000 to each student.

So when a student decides to attend a private school the district loses that $5,000.  It is significant when a Missoula student decides to home school or attend a private school. It is even more significant and downright disloyal on the part of MCPS trustees and administrators when the student ATTENDS A PRIVATE SCHOOL WHICH IS HOUSED IN A PUBLIC SCHOOL which is the case of Missoula International School School students at Prescott School.

Another example of disloyalty by MCPS Trustees is the sale of Roosevelt School to St. Joseph's School in 2005. The enrollment of St. Joseph's School grew almost every year since the lease was approved around 1998 (not exactly sure of the year) and especially after the sale in 2005.

Families will surely take into consideration the school facility when deciding on a school including a private school and perhaps more so if a school is private. In each of the cases mentioned the public school was a HUGE UPGRADE IN THE PRIVATE SCHOOL'S PREVIOUS FACILITY/FACILITIES!!

The above cannot be overemphasized. The reason why these private schools pursue the public facility is to improve their school so as to attract additional students (which by the way come from the pool of children which attend MCPS).

Prescott School Missoula went before the Board for most every discussion of the leasing of Prescott School and before that for every attempt at closure.  Along with others, psm mentioned the upcoming enrollment increase, that of the echo echo boom children (the grandchildren of the baby boomers).

This future increase of students throughout the district was substantiated by work done by Dr. Larry Swanson and others. Dr. Swanson had contributed many hours free of charge to the district before 2004 and in 2009 he was contracted to do a comprehensive study for the distinct. (See tab above on this blog).

All of the free and professional work by Dr. Swanson was brushed aside, at the peril of MCPS children and Missoula taxpayers, by the Trustees at this time.

The Trustees whom voted for the 2004 north side closures were: Chairwoman Rosemary Harrison, Trustees Jenda Hemphill, Naomi Kimbell, and David Merrill.

The Trustees whom voted for the 2004 north side closures in the second vote brought on by an open meeting lawsuit against the district by Molly Moody and Allan Oines, were: Rosemary Harrison, Jenda Hemphill, Naomi Kimbell (who later became MIS's executive director - see multiple posts of this blog!), Toni Rehbein, Scott Bixler, and Joe Toth. Trustee Carol Bellin was the lone dissenter.

The Trustees whom voted for the lease of Prescott School to Missoula International School are: Rosemary Harrison, Jenda Hemphill, Naomi Kimbell, Joe Toth, and Scott Bixler. Toni Rehbein recused herself from the vote (See multiple posts on the connections Toni Rehbein has with MIS), and Carol Bellin voted against the lease.

Trustees whom voted for the lease extension in 2009: Scott Bixler, Joe Toth, Joseph Knapp, and others (psm needs to look into the documents for information on other votes).

Trustees whom voted for the Prescott School/MIS lease in 2011: Scott Bixler, Shelly Wills, Joseph Knapp, and Michael Smith.

psm will correct the voting information if any is found to be incorrect and or incomplete.

All of these MCPS Trustees have shown disloyalty to the district by assisting a private school - when their loyalties are by law supposed  to be ONLY to MCPS.

The picture for this article shows a modular at Rattlesnake School.

The article states that for the first time Rattlesnake students are being sent to Paxson.

MIS has received sweat heart leases for 9 years (see blog tab titled "MIS sweartheart lease" 

MIS has been negligent in the care of the playground and perhaps other areas of the school.(See You Tube video)

 MCPS has done maintenance on Prescott School at the district's expense, going against the lease agreement which stipulates that MIS is responsible for repair and maintenance. (See You Tube video)

psm is quite sure  based on past experience that there have been other favors to MIS form the MCPS school district.

Going forward - MCPS needs to let MIS know that the lease will be terminated at the end of this school year(there is surprisingly an opt out clause in the lease - which has not been included for MCPS in past leases). 

THEN MCPS NEEDS TO REOPEN PRESCOTT SCHOOL FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL CHILDREN.

How much more proof is there that WE NEED PRESCOTT SCHOOL!!

Booming student population pushes need for MCPS long-range facilities plan

Jacobs Decision - Features a complaint by Rosemary Harrison which actually sheds light on problems with the district's and Harrison's mishandling of the 2004 school (including Prescott) closures

Below is a link to the document "Jacobs Decision" which features a complaint by former Board Chairwoman Rosemary Harrison against former Trustee Teresa Jacobs after the 2005 school board elections. 

Ironically, the state's investigation reveals that there was no wrongdoing by Teresa Jacobs and indeed shows problems with the process by which Board Chair Harrison and the MCPS school district closed three northeast Missoula schools.

After reading this document psm believes that people will see the extent of the problems with the process of closing Prescott, Mt. Jumbo, and Rattlesnake Middle Schools in 2004.

http://politicalpractices.mt.gov/content/pdf/2recentdecisions3-cfp/Jacobsdecision.pdf

Rosemary Harrison, former MCPS Trustee and Board Chair- Prescott School's (and Roosevelt School's) worst enemy

Rosemary Harrison voted several times to close Prescott School

In 2001, 2003 and again in 2004, Rosemary Harrison, former Missoula County Public Schools Board Chairwoman, voted to close Prescott School. After the School Board elections in 2001 and 2003, the vote was reversed by pro-neighborhood school Trustees. Harrison, unfortunately, finally succeeded in her quest to close Prescott School in 2004.

Rosemary Harrison is most likely (there are others that are close) Prescott School's worst enemy.

Of course, Harrison had to have others to help her in her closure quest.  These were: Trustee Jenda Hemphill, Superintendent Jim Clark, Trustee David Merrill, and Trustee Naomi Kimbell (see prior posts regarding Naomi Kimbell's role in the school closure decision and her subsequent employment with MIS as executive director), and Prescott principal, Cindy Christensen. 

In the second vote to close the three schools due to a lawsuit against Harrison, etc. and Clark, more help for Harrison's closure quest came with Trustee Toni Rehbein, now Board Chair (see prior posts regarding her role in the leasing of Prescott School to a school for which she had served as president shortly before being elected to the MCPS Board of Trustees, Missoula International School), Trustee Scott Bixler, and Trustee Joe Toth.

There are other district officials that have been hostile towards Prescott School, however, the individuals above stand out most prominently.

Quotes from the Missoulian article about the closures follow:

"Public comments after the two budget decisions early Thursday morning did reveal deep division remains on the board.
"The decision tonight is enormously harmful to our kids," Dussault said. "It's not in the long-term interest of the district."

Added Rogers: "I don't think we know the ramifications of the decision.  We'll be right back here next year, making cuts."

Harrison provided the counterpoint: "I really do feel that we have made a good decision, and that makes me feel glad," she said.

Some trustees and members of the public who stayed until the end of the meeting called for greater public involvement in the budgeting process.

They noted that the budget team that crafted the recommendations presented to the board included district officials and principals, but no members of the board or the public.

Bellin said she hoped that next year the district would not have "an exclusive administration-only budget team."

Below is a link to a Missoulian article on the 2004 school closures for which she voted as the Chairwoman of the Missoula County Public Schools Board of Trustees.

Jumbo, Prescott schools closed

(Prescott School Missoula is working on including the link (that works) for this post.)
 


 

New West article from 2006 regarding a lawsuit against MCPS in the sale of Roosevelt School

Occasionally, Prescott School Missoula is compelled to include news about Roosevelt School.

Three of the five Trustees that voted to sell Roosevelt continue to serve on the MCPS School Board. These Trustees are: Board Chairwoman Toni Rehbein, Trustee Scott Bixler, and Trustee Joe Toth. The other two Trustees that voted to sell Roosevelt are former Board Chairwoman Rosemary Harrison and Trustee and fomer Board Chairwoman Jenda Hemphill (she became Board Chairwoman after Harrison was voted out of office in 2005).
                                               ****
 Quotes from the New West article follow:

"Good Schools Missoula, Inc., a new organization advocating for quality schools in Missoula County, has filed a lawsuit against the Missoula County Public School District and several of its School Board trustees. The group claims the trustees are individually liable for the financial discrepancies resulting from the breach of their fidiciary duties in the lease and sale of Roosevelt School."

and -

"What we're doing is trying to hold the school trustees accountable for selling Roosevelt School below its market value," Funsch said. "(The district) didn't even accept the highest offer for Roosevelt Public School."

and -

"The group also stated that the sale of Roosevelt School will increase property taxes, a reduction in opportunities for children who attend school in District 1, increased classroom congestion and reduced resources. Increased class sizes, children having to be bussed to distant facilities, traffic increases and increased workload for teachers are also negative impacts listed within group's lawsuit."

                                             ****

What happened with the loss of Roosevelt School is similar to what is happening at Prescott School. The Catholic Schools were leasing Roosevelt School at a reduced rate and subsequently was sold at a reduced rate - thus the term "sweetheart sale".

Prescott School is now being leased and has been leased at reduced rates - thus also taking advantage of a sweetheart lease deal.

Additionally, one has to account for the massive loses due to MCPS children attending our leased and now sold (in the case of Roosevelt School) treasured neighborhood public school buildings that are now occupied by private schools.  See prior posts regarding a math professors warning and page titled "MIS Sweetheart Lease" at the top of the home page.

Many believe that neither the Catholic School system nor MIS could lease nor could have bought (in the case of Roosevelt) comparable facilities at the price MCPS has/had given them had they gone into private sector real estate. 

The lawsuit went to the Supreme Court, however, the Court ruled  only on procedures, not the merits of the complaint. The Court did not rule in favor of Good Schools Missoula.

The link to the article on the Good Schools Missoula/Catholic Schools lawsuit is below -

http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/missoula_organization_wants_roosevelt_school_sale_voided_school_board_trust/